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And by now the clever reader has already suspected there will be a v. 2! Indeed!
This project has been underway for some time, years in fact. My office chair is very old (1995), it’s also very comfortable, very versatile and very expensive. I can’t get a pretty one that is anywhere near as good as this, even when it squeaks a bit. So I’m holding onto it tooth and nail, even when it started looking like this:
I tried to repair it, meaning to make a full cover to go over the top and THEN make something decorative out of yarn, which could be taken off and washed.
But then I procrastinated and could not decide on a design. Then I broke my sewing machine and then I went on a very long sick leave and didn’t care.
In the meantime it just got more beat up, so when I finally did finish the first cover (which had been sitting around for ages, all needled up) I thought we needed some extra padding, and voila, my cover is too small and slides off. I’m test sitting it right now without the foam padding, and that seems to have improved the issue. I don’t even know why I wanted padding, as I usually sit on my left foot. Which I guess is why the chair looks like it does in the first place!
Incidentally the fabric I used attracts cat hair really well! Duh. That’s just me and my “use what’s at hand approach“.
I started off knitting a quick to-be-felted cover from plant dyed yarn, Hollyhock to be precise + a couple of Coreopsis.
You may remember how I fiddled the pH to get all those different colours. Then you throw it in the machine, at 60° no less, with a soap that you’re not quite sure is neutral. Well, it wasn’t. Which is fine, I like green.
And it’s too small as well. I’d reckoned on that but wanted it as tightly felted as possible, so I’d threaded some cotton string around the edges, figuring I could pull it out and use the holes to pick up more stitches. I may or may not do that, since all the cats really love it. But it’s a good surface to use, sturdy and easy to clean. I see cat bed production in my future.
I have other plans brewing, but with my sewing skills it may take me a few versions to get something that actually works. In the meantime, my chair at least does not look like something from a scrap yard. Not as much so.
Colour Cottage 
Everything I own seems to attract cat hair. I do love the colors of your yarns!
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my studio chair also looks like something from the dump for good reason ……. I rescued it from the dump. it was sitting at the curb waiting for garbage pickup when I did a test sit and then wheeled it home. it is covered in pleather that is worn and peeling off in areas but it is really a very comfortable chair. one of these days I need to make a cover.
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Comfort comes before beauty for me when tools and equipment is concerned. Oh it would be lovely to live in a photogenic home, but as long as I also want my pets they’re going to wear out an $8000 couch the same as an $800 one, guess what would make me cry the most! And the timespan 10 x $800 couches last are in fact considerable!
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Looks good, I like the colours after washing 🙂
Anne
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Thanks, I’m not really very disappointed either.
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I am amazed how those colours have changed! I actually really like the new colours, but a lot of the beautiful variation in the original colours is sadly gone.
I’ve in fact come to the conclusion that varying the pH to get different colours may be fun but it is not that useful in practise unless you only use one colour in the finished piece or never wash the finished piece – in a multi-coloured piece that needs to be washed there’s a risk you’ll lost the variation in the wash, just as you have just shown, because colours created in this way are very unstable.That’s why these days I only vary the pH on small sample felt pieces just for future reference/for my own learning process, but I won’t bother doing it with my main wool/yarn (unless I have a very specific reason to do it and know that I can try to preserve the specific shades by correct after-wash treatment). And I have never yet come across a detergent that is so pH neutral that it doesn’t alter naturally dyed colours if they are left there for more than a few minutes.
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It’s also fun that the yellow coreopsis has turned orange.
Perhaps one should simply wash all new plant dyed yarn with an alkaline detergent so to establish it’s true colour for actual use? Instead of being oh so careful to preserve what came out of the pot?
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;D Hvor jeg dog kender det. Vores stole ser også sådan ud – igen – efter at være blevet ombetrukket. Jeg sidder også altid med venstre fod oppe under mig, og ja, det slider på stolene. Nu har jeg anskaffet en kugle at sidde på ved computeren, den er god så længe man ikke putter nåle eller andre spidse genstande i den (don’t ask me how I know). Flotte farver på billede et bliver til mere dæmpede, ikke så sprælske på nummer to. Jeg kan afgjort bedst lide nummer et.
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Desværre brugte jeg alt garnet – så det bliver ikke en ommer.
Jeg håber ikke du sad på bolden, da den punkterede? 😉
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Det ville da heller ikke hjælpe med en ommer, det ville jo bare blive da samme farver, når du filtede dem. Det er nu heller ikke så tosset, men noget af sprællet er unægteligt væk.
Nix, heldigvis var det en af de lette Ugleunger, der sad på kuglen, og punkterede den. Og så var det heldigvis en af de gode AntiBurst kugler, der bare langsomt mister luften og ikke siger BANG!
Jeg har fundet en ny på et loppemarked, den er bare ægformet 😉
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I just LOVE that design, it reminds me of the cross of Brigid. Can’t wait to see more of your projects! 🙂
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I own stock in lint brushes….hahaha…with seven kitties I am in a constant state of clean mode. Helps some that I vacuum daily and brush them weekly. Good luck with your chair! Looking forward to seeing what you choose!
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